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Migraine Art Migraine and Painting baqbool
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 Phyllis Baldino |
Molly Barr |
baqbool
Artist's Website
baqbool, migraine from hell, 2005. © 2005 baqbool (http://www.flickr.com/photos/baqbool/3906034/, January 24, 2005)
"During the years from 1971 to 1996, I found myself suffering from migraine headaches. In addition to the usual doctor's treatment of prescribed medication, I devised my own methods of relaxing by employing such things as solitude, good ventilation, and a quiet space. I would frequently listen to music, mostly classical, such as Mozart and any number of composers from the renaissance and baroque periods. The music could help me relax but could also trigger a desire to create. I can remember filling notebook after notebook of erratic and undisciplined drawings. I began to gather large amounts of raw material. During migraine-free periods I would try to collect and edit these ideas into cohesion. Some highly original drawings and paintings resulted because I began to look at line, color, and composition in ways I had not previously considered. An intuitive and emotional approach to creativity became my standard. This approach continues today even though the migraine headaches have tapered off significantly since 1996. Unfortunately I now have new struggles with pain management trying to cope with severe back problems and the constant pain of peripheral neuropathy in both feet.
During periods of insomnia, I frequently pass the time by taking random digital photographs off the TV as old movies play. At the end of a session I will gather any images of interest and delete the rest. Digital technology allows the artist free rein in extreme productivity without the budgetary concern of buying film and paying for processing. If I feel like shooting one thousand photos in a single afternoon, I can do it. In my image titled 'Migraine from Hell', I took one of the aforementioned TV shots of a woman's head and started playing with different filters in the digital photo-editing software called Photoshop. I rarely have a particular goal in mind. I will 'tinker' with an image until I find something interesting to work with. Some of the filters I used on this particular image created an explosive look to the woman's head which immediately reminded me of the horrific pain that radiates from a migraine. Not only does the pain throb inwardly to the eyes, head, and neck, it also seems to propel itself outwardly, creating a complete space/time distortion and disintegration. I was startled to find that color and design had created the suggestion of the word 'hell' across the woman's eyes and forehead. It was at that moment that I knew my image was complete, and I even had a title: 'Migraine from Hell'."
(Email to Klaus Podoll, March 20, 2005)
About the artist"I have been seriously involved in artmaking since I was ten years old. I have worked in a traditional medium of oil and acrylic on canvas, watercolor, pastel, and colored pencils on paper as well as collage, assemblage, xerographic art, and, as an important parallel pursuit, photography. Since 2003 my primary focus has been on digital photography and digital graphics. Having been primarily an abstract expressionist painter, I was initially hesitant about exploring the digital realm. I feared that it might be too cold, too clinical, too technical. When I discovered that digital art could be as painterly as traditional mediums, I literally put down my paintbrush in favor the mouse, laptop, software, and digital camera. I am attempting to blur the boundaries between photography and painting using digital technology. I have never developed a singular style. If you must label or categorize my work, you may call it 'media synthesis', 'maximalism', or 'neo-baroque'. I have been influenced by Picasso's simultaneous multi-stylisms and Gerhard Richter's parallel explorations of both the figurative and the abstract. I enjoy a 'both/and' rather than an 'either/or' approach to making art. I have always been naturally prolific and prone to experimentation. One thing that I have noticed over the years is a dramatic increase in originality and unpredictability if I engage in artmaking during periods of extreme stress, tension, anger, depression, frustration, anxiety, physical pain, or insomnia. I believe that the emotional or physical pain creates in me an attitude of complete disregard for the rule of aesthetics. I begin to attack artmaking with wild abandon, probably as a release, any release, from a prison of distress. At these times I really don't care about a finished product. It is the activity that becomes foremost. Whether I end up with nothing of use or a handful of worthwhile creations, the idea of working through the pain is sufficient cause for the activity." (Email to Klaus Podoll, March 20, 2005) |
Author: Klaus Podoll
Last modification of this page: Saturday March 26. 2005
| Phyllis Baldino |
Molly Barr |
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Copyright © 2005 Migraine Aura Foundation, All rights reserved. Last modification of this site: August 25, 2006
Thanks to: RAFFELT MEDIENDESIGN and GNU software | webmaster@migraine-aura.org
http://migraine-aura.org/EN/baqbool.html